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aviation

A B-1B Lancer doing the first-ever low-altitude terrain following

by Till Daisd August 28, 2021

written by Till Daisd

On December 12, 2017, precisely thirty years later, a B-1B crew successfully fired two LRASMs in production configuration simultaneously during a test at Point Mugu’s sea range

The fascinating video in this post shows a B-1B executing a terrain-following flight to test the Lancer automatic terrain-following system on December 12, 1987, at Edwards Air Force Base (AFB).

On December 12, 2017, exactly thirty years later, a B-1B crew successfully fired two Long Range Anti-Ship Missiles (LRASM) in production configuration simultaneously during a test at Point Mugu’s sea range.

“This continued success with LRASM provides confidence in its upcoming early operational capability milestone, putting a proven, unmatched munition into the U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force inventories,” said David Helsel, LRASM program director at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. “The successful flight demonstrates LRASM’s continued ability to strengthen sea control for our forces.”

Check out this video of a B-1B Lancer performing low-altitude terrain following at Edwards AFB

By utilizing cutting-edge technologies that lessen reliance on platforms for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, network connectivity, and GPS navigation, LRASM is intended to detect and kill individual targets inside groups of ships in electronic warfare scenarios. Due to its improved capacity to distinguish and perform tactical engagements from extended ranges, LRASM will play a vital role in securing military access to operate in open ocean/blue waters.

Precision-guided Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile – Extended Range-based LRASM is an anti-ship standoff missile (JASSM-ER). It is made to accommodate the demands of American Navy and Air Force warfighters operating in hostile circumstances. The air-launched variant gives the U.S. Navy’s offensive anti-surface warfare Increment I requirement an early operational capability that could be integrated onboard the B-1B of the U.S. Air Force in 2018 and the F/A-18E/F of the U.S. Navy in 2019.

Photo by U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy

August 28, 2021 0 comment

SR-71 Blackbird spy planes performed Rocket Ride mission

by Till Daisd August 28, 2021

written by Till Daisd

All was calm halfway over the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), but Graham suddenly observed a big object over North Korea that was astonishingly higher than his SR-71 Blackbird actually was

Performances from the SR-71 Blackbird were astounding.

The Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird Mach 3 strategic reconnaissance aircraft maintained that title for the majority of its nearly 24-year service. It could survey 100,000 square miles of the Earth’s surface per hour from an altitude of 80,000 feet.

However, despite these distinctive qualities, the Blackbird was an extremely short-range aircraft; in fact, depending on the mission plan, the majority of sorties required at least one and occasionally as many as six aeuelings.

However, a reconnaissance mission that didn’t require aerial refueling was occasionally flown from Okinawa to gather intelligence on North Korea. Col. Richard H. Graham, a former Blackbird pilot, piloted one of these missions and detailed it in his book SR-71 The Complete Illustrated History of THE BLACKBIRD The World’s Highest, Fastest Plane: “From takeoff to landing the total mission time was fifty-seven minutes and we named it the ‘Rocket Ride.’ This mission was very demanding because everything happened so quickly: departure, acceleration and climb, cruise, and descent for landing. Mentally you had to stay well ahead of the plane on this mission compared to others.”

Join this SR-71 Blackbird driver for a top secret recoinnassance mission over North Korea — A Boeing KC-135Q Stratotanker refueling an SR-71

Graham says that the 160-mile-long and 2.5-mile-wide demilitarized zone (DMZ) separating North and South Korea is the most highly militarized region on earth. The purpose of the Rocket Ride missions was to keep an eye on military installations and tunnels that North Korea had developed on the north side of the DMZ over a long period of time in anticipation of future confrontations with South Korea.

Graham was the Reconnaissance System Officer on the first Rocket Ride with Don Emmons (RSO, the Blackbird backseater). According to Graham “Our mission was planned to fly down the middle of the DMZ, imaging directly under the SR-71 and North Korea about fifty-seven miles.” They flew directly from Okinawa north over the Korean Straits into the Sea of Japan, past the DMZ from northeast to southwest, out into the Yellow Sea, and back to Okinawa.

The SR-71’s takeoff roll was longer than typical because it was loaded with 65,000 pounds of fuel. They conducted a 400-knot rising left turn to the north after liftoff while still in AB and fled Okinawa. They reached 33,000 feet in four to five minutes, where they started accelerating and climbing at supersonic speeds.

They immediately reached Mach 3.0 and leveled off at about 73,000 feet. From Okinawa’s brake release to Mach 3.0 and 73,000 feet, the total time was slightly under seventeen minutes.

Graham concentrated on the Blackbird’s performance when they crossed the DMZ, and Emmons was busy keeping an eye on the sensor systems. As North Korean surface-to-air missile (SAM) sites were looking for or monitoring them, he also maintained a close check on the radar warning equipment informing him of this. Over the DMZ, we spent around seven minutes in total.

All was quiet around halfway through the DMZ when Graham abruptly observed a big object over North Korea that was astonishingly higher than they actually were. As Graham recalls “whatever it was, we were closing on it fast! I barely had time to tell Don when it rapidly passed directly over and behind us. It turned out to be a high-altitude weather balloon that could have been launched from USSR, China, North Korea, or South Korea. Don and I agreed later this was probably coincidental, rather than a nefarious plot of some sort.”

As soon as the SR-71 left the DMZ and entered international airspace, its onboard sensors began recording electronic signal intelligence. If China’s military radar network had detected the SR-71 and responded, the recorders would have gathered a wealth of information about Chinese capabilities to respond to the Blackbird’s presence. Instead, shortly after leaving the DMZ, Graham and Emmons heard a very peculiar HF radio call. The RSO decrypted the message, which instructed them to confirm the correctness of their navigation system. They continued on course after confirming their navigation system, started a left-hand descent, and landed at Kadena Air Base in less than an hour.

As Graham explains “we found out later that the other assets didn’t know our programmed flight path and when they were aware the SR-71 was heading directly for China it raised a red flag. The sheer excitement of this Rocket Ride made us look forward to future ones!”

Join this SR-71 Blackbird driver for a top secret recoinnassance mission over North Korea — View of the earth as seen from the SR-71 Blackbird at approximately 83000 ft

Photo by Lockheed Martin, Ken Hackman, and Brian Shul / U.S. Air Force

August 28, 2021 0 comment

A cap flown by two Royal Navy Sea Harrier Fighters during the Falklands war

by Till Daisd August 28, 2021

written by Till Daisd

The Sea Harrier’s Extra Dark Sea Grey color scheme, which made it very difficult to see over land or sea, earned it the nickname “La Muerta Negra” (The Black Death) among Argentine pilots

The account of a stressful combat air patrol flight by two Sea Harrier planes of the Royal Navy during Operation Sutton.

When they destroyed 23 Argentine aircraft for no casualties in that area of action during the 1982 Falklands War, Royal Navy Sea Harriers demonstrated their value in air-to-air combat.

Operation Sutton (the British landings on the Falklands) started on May 21, 1982, and the Fuerza Aérea Argentina (FAA, Argentine Air Force) launched multiple attack missions against the Royal Navy fleet. On board HMS Invincible (R05), the Sea Harriers from 801 Naval Air Squadron engaged Argentinean aircraft in the afternoon, first shooting down a Pucara and then fending off three Daggers that were attempting to attack the British fleet.

The story of how Argentine Air Force Dagger fighters severely damaged HMS Ardent during the Falklands War

Two Daggers attacked HMS Brilliant, which was anchored close to the San Carlos village, later in the day. The cannon shells damaged the operations room, resulted in injuries, and hurt a Fighter Direction Officer (FDO). Falklands The Air War by R. Burden, M. Draper, D. Rough, C. Smith, and D. Wilton claims that the same FDO observed three further Daggers on his radar screen and directed two Sea Harriers that were conducting a Combat Air Patrol (CAP) in the area toward them.

Lt. Steve Thomas and Lt. Cdr. Nigel Ward flew the two British planes. Thomas recognized the Daggers as belonging to Grupo 6 De Caza (6th Air Brigade) as they had passed over the enemy aircraft due to their yellow fin identification bands and wings. The enemy fighters’ pilots were Flt. Lt. Jorge Senn, Maj. Gustavo Justo Piuma, and Capt. Guillermo Donadille.

The story of a tense CAP flown by two Royal Navy Sea Harrier fighters during the Falklands War

The moment the Argentines spotted the Sea Harriers, they jettisoned their underwing stores and started to climb in an attempt to intercept them. However, Thomas dove in behind Piuma’s Dagger and fired an AIM-9L, disabling the fighter as it attempted to elude the Sidewinder by making a quick turn to the right. Piuma miraculously managed to safely exit his airplane.

Thomas next launched a second missile, this time aiming it at Donadille’s aircraft, which blew up when the Sidewinder impacted the port wing of his Dagger. Donadille had also successfully ejected before his aircraft crashed, and the fighter did not disintegrate but instead went into an uncontrollable spin. When the Dagger was attempting to escape the furball, Ward fired an AIM-9L at the ship, destroying the final Dagger Senn had flown. Senn safely exited his fighter before it entirely disintegrated around him.

Following the fight, Brilliant vectored Ward and Thomas against three A-4Qs, but they quickly realized they were too far away from the Argentine Skyhawks to attack them. As a result, they kept the A-4s in view until two Sea Harriers from the 800 Naval Air Squadron were able to successfully intercept the enemy attackers. While traveling along the East coast of West Falkland at Port Howard, Ward and Thomas resumed their CAP when Ward realized he had lost radio contact and sight of his wingman. He phoned the Invincible to report his suspicion that Thomas had been downed by Argentine anti-aircraft artillery (AAA).

Ward returned to the carrier because his aircraft was running extremely low on gas, and when he landed on the Invincible in the early evening, he ran into Thomas, who had arrived just before him. In reality, his aircraft had only suffered minor damage from the AAA over Port Howard, and the Sea Harrier had been repaired in less than 24 hours.

The 801 Naval Air Squadron personnel evaluated the day’s events when the Argentine air attacks came to an end at dusk, and Ward and Thomas, along with the other pilots, were pleased that the Sea Harrier had earned the nickname “La Muerte Negra” from the Argentines (the aircraft was dubbed by the enemy pilots The Black Death because of its Extra Dark Sea Grey color scheme which made it very difficult to spot over land or sea).

However, Santiago Rivas, a renowned expert on modern military aviation, noted that Argentine pilots never referred to the Sea Harriers as “La Muerte Negra.” Rivas claims that it’s actually unclear why the Sea Harrier was given such a moniker. The nickname may have been created by Sea Harrier pilots or by British pilots who were misled by Argentine radar operators who called the Sea Harriers “moscardones” (botflies), which on the radio could sound like “muerte negra,” according to Rivas, who has worked with more than 100 Argentine pilots.

The story of a tense CAP flown by two Royal Navy Sea Harrier fighters during the Falklands War

Photo by Jorge Alberto Leonardi via Wikipedia, U.S. Navy, Royal Navy

August 28, 2021 0 comment

A US NAVY RA-5C Vigilante captured an image of an SA-2 missile passing 104 feet from its belly

by Till Daisd August 28, 2021

written by Till Daisd

Although the most plausible explanation is that the missile had not reached its arming time when it shot past the crazily jinking RA-5C, no one is certain why it did not detonate

North Americans created the carrier-based supersonic bomber known as the A-5 Vigilante for the U.S. Navy. It only had a relatively brief stint doing nuclear strikes (replacing the Douglas A-3 Skywarrior). However, it was extensively used in the Vietnam War in the tactical strike reconnaissance capacity as the RA-5C.

Medium-level, risky reconnaissance missions (like the one described in this article) began in August 1964.

Lt Cdr Barry Gastrock and Lt Emy Conrad, flying the RA-5C Vigilante BuNo.156624 of Reconnaissance Attack (Heavy) Squadron Six (RVAH-6), with the call sign “Field Gold 602,” from USS Kitty Hawk (CVA-63), accidentally captured an amazing photo on March 1, 1971, while performing one of these missions over North Vietnam.

That time an RA-5C Vigilante took a picture of a SA-2 surface to air missile passing just 104 feet from its belly — SA-2 Surface-to-Air Missile on display in the Southeast Asia War Gallery at the National Museum of the United States Air Force.

According to Robert R. Powell in his book RA-5C Vigilante Units in Combat, their intended course crossed over itself to permit the crew to capture the Song Ca River in its entirety on camera.

This location was deep inside the SAM envelopes around the city of Vinh.

Less than four minutes after passing through the same village in a westerly direction, the Vigilante, heading south, reappeared over the river juncture at Hung Nghia. On the jet’s initial pass over the area, AAA had been patchy, and there had been no missile warnings when Lt. Conrad saw a flash in his viewfinder, heard a “whumpf,” and was thrown against his seat-straps. The crew quickly “had their feet wet” and then made a simple landing back on the Kitty Hawk because the coast was not far away.

According to Robert R. Powell’s book RA-5C Vigilante Units in Combat, this is the incredible picture of the SA-2 SAM missile that passed just 104ft below Gastrock and Conrad RA-5C

A photo interpreter stopped in surprise as she moved the six-inch-wide film from one enormous spool to another across the light table a little while later in the ship’s intelligence center. The vertical camera of the Vigilante captured an SA-2 surface-to-air missile (SAM) that was still gaining altitude perfectly.

The crew was called to see the near-miss. They assumed the SAM passed next to the RA-5C as Lt Cdr Gastrock made a sharp turn to return home because there was no terrain visible in the picture. With knowledge of the SA-2’s size and the camera’s focal length, the photogrammeters calculated that the missile had passed within 104 feet of the Vigilante’s belly.

Although the most plausible explanation is that the missile had not yet reached its arming time when it shot past the crazily jinking RA-5C, no one is certain why it did not detonate.

That time an RA-5C Vigilante took a picture of a SA-2 surface to air missile passing just 104 feet from its belly

Despite the Vigilante’s speed and agility, 18 of these aircraft were destroyed in battle during the Vietnam War: 14 by anti-aircraft fire, three by surface-to-air missiles, and one by a MiG-21. As attrition replacements, 36 further RA-5C aircraft were manufactured from 1968 to 1970 in part as a result of these combat losses. These planes were very different from earlier RA-5Cs. These were worthy of being dubbed RA-5Ds thanks to improved engines, Leading Edge Extensions over the intakes, changed intake geometry, and other upgrades, but the existing moniker was kept. Since the BuNo. for this most recent batch of Vigilantes begins with the number 156, they are known as the 156 Series aircraft (some earlier RA-5Cs were rebuilt to the same standard so there are exceptions).

Photo by Emy Conrad / U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force

August 28, 2021 0 comment

The Air America UH-1D Huey that shot down a North Vietnamese AN-2 Colt Biplane

by Till Daisd August 28, 2021

written by Till Daisd

When the AN-2 pilot was forced to slow down, Woods fired an AK-47 rifle from his UH-1D helicopter at Colt’s cockpit, causing it to spin out of control and crash

The amazing tale of the first CIA air-to-air triumph.

Radar was installed in a remote mountain inside fictitiously neutral Laos near the northern Laos-North Vietnam border in the middle of 1967 as Operation Rolling Thunder was underway because the poor weather over North Vietnam made it impossible to locate and strike the designated targets.

It was determined that the site was easily defendable because it could only be reached by aircraft or a difficult trail twisting up the nearly vertical mountainside. The fighter bomber crews called this radar station Channel 97 (the radar frequency)., although it was known as Lima (L for Laos) Site 85.

As described by USAF Col. (Ret.) Lawrence E. Pence in his article “Air Story” out of Vietnam “the Channel 97 radar system was an old SAC precision bomb scoring radar that could locate an aircraft within a few meters at a hundred miles. In this application, the strike force would fly out from Lima Site 85 at a given distance on a given radial, and the site operators would tell the strike leader precisely when to release his bomb load. It was surprisingly accurate, and allowed the strikes to be run at night or in bad weather.”

For many years, the same mountain served as a staging area for Hmong insurgents under the control of the CIA, while Air America, a CIA-owned company, supplied aircraft support for the facility, the technicians, and the security personnel.

Due to the extensive damage that bombers employing Lima Facility 85 as their navigational aid were creating when they attacked North Vietnamese sites, the latter decided to demolish this radar site on January 12, 1968. The North Vietnamese Air Force (NVNAF) was given the assignment to assault the radar, and they did it by using three Antonov AN-2 Colt biplanes as strike bombers.

According to Pence “The NVNAF armed the AN-2s with a 12 shot 57mm folding fin aerial rocket pod under each lower wing, and 20 250mm mortar rounds with aerial bomb fuses set in vertical tubes let into the floor of the aircraft cargo bay.” Through holes drilled in the cargo bay floor, these were dropped. These apertures were covered by straightforward hinged bomb-bay doors, which the pilot could open to discharge his bomb load.

Two AN-2s served as the assault planes in this unconventional strike package, while a third Colt served as the strike’s hit director and chase plane. A Thai mercenary shot down the first AN-2 that tried to strike the Air America infrastructure with his AK-47. The second Colt turned homeward and headed toward the north after the first one crashed, but the unarmed Air America UH-1D Huey helicopter stationed at the radar site stopped it.

According to the CIA website, the AN-2 was reached by helicopter, which was piloted by Capt. Ted Moore with Glenn Woods serving as a crewman, a few miles inside North Vietnam without being seen by the Colt pilot. Moore then flew over the AN-2, and the helicopter’s downwash caused the upper wing of the aircraft to crash. When the biplane’s pilot was forced to slow down, Woods fired an AK-47 rifle into Colt’s cockpit, causing it to spin out of control and crash.

This battle saw the CIA’s first air-to-air triumph and the lone helicopter kill against a biplane.

The incredible story of the Air America UH-1D Huey that shot down a North Vietnamese AN-2 Colt biplane

Instead, two months later, North Vietnamese troops demolished Lima Site 85.

Photo by Keith Woodcock via CIA website, U.S. Air Force, and Julian Herzog (Website) via Wikipedia

August 28, 2021 0 comment

The close call in 1969 off the Korean Peninsula that nearly triggered WWIII

by Till Daisd August 28, 2021

written by Till Daisd

“This is the Chief-of-Staff: Launch the alert five.” Immediately above, on the flight deck, we could hear the A-6 engines starting.

The unknown story of the close call that almost started World War III off the Korean Peninsula in 1969

An unarmed EC-121 propeller-driven aircraft was shot down by a North Korean MiG-21 on April 14, 1969, when it was on a regular reconnaissance patrol over the Sea of Japan from its base in Atsugi, Japan. The 31-man crew as a whole perished. Task Force 71 (TF-71) was created as a result of the American response to protect such aircraft over those international waters in the future. The battleship New Jersey, three cruisers, 16 destroyers, and the carriers Enterprise, Ticonderoga, Ranger, and Hornet made up the original TF-71. In the Sea of Japan, to the east of South Korea, at a location known as Defender Station, the task force’s components gathered.

In order to assist American forces fighting in Vietnam, USS Enterprise was in operation at Yankee Station in the Tonkin Gulf. As the Assistant Combat Information Center (CIC) Officer, I was associated with Enterprise. At the moment, Rear Admiral Malcolm Cagle was appointed Commander Task Force 71 (CTF-71), and he was onboard Enterprise with his staff. We were two of four officers tasked with keeping Flag watches in Enterprise CIC because my boss, the CIC Officer, and I were given a temporary assignment to the Admiral’s staff. The other two were Flagstaff members.

The unknown story of the close call that almost started World War III off the Korean Peninsula in 1969

A Soviet Tupolev Tu-16 Badger aircraft flew over the task force the day after their rendezvous at Defender Station. I seized control and started directing the launch of F-4 fighter aircraft from the Ranger and F-8 aircraft from the Ticonderoga to intercept and escort the Badgers while I was in CIC at the time. Admiral Cagle participated in the operation from CIC. I was told to report to Captain Kent Lee on the bridge once the Soviet aircraft had left the area. Captain Lee and Admiral Cagle were waiting as I entered the bridge.

Captain Lee looked at me and said, “John, the Admiral tells me that there was a lot of confusion in CIC during the intercepts of the Soviet aircraft.” The Admiral had sent his aide to me during the operation to ask me technical questions. I ignored him since I was busy keeping an eye on the intercepts, especially their fuel levels. I look Captain Lee in the eye and replied, “If there was any confusion in CIC, Captain, it was on the part of the Admiral and not my crew.” Lee broke into a grin and said, “Thank you, John. You’re dismissed.” I walked off the bridge without experiencing any negative effects from my shot at Admiral Cagle.

I was given the duty of keeping watch from midnight to six in the morning as the junior officer of the four officers doing six-hour flag watches in CIC (balls to six in Navy lingo). I was keeping watch in CIC a week or so after the initial meeting. It was around 2:30 in the morning when a man calling me over to see a surface contact that was traveling directly toward the force at 31 knots was watching the surrounding surface picture on a 50″ raw radar scope.

This was a potential threat that I could not ignore because we were aware that the North Korean Navy possessed quick patrol boats armed with devastating surface-to-surface missiles. I made a call to the flag war room on the phone. An intelligence staff member responded. He promised to contact the Admiral and get back to me after I explained to him how I perceived the issue. My phone rang a little while later. The Chief of Staff for the Admiral, Captain Kennedy, was there. He introduced himself as the chief of staff. “Launch the alert five.”

Four heavily armed and crewed A-6 attack aircraft that could be launched within five minutes of command were part of alert number five, and they were stationed on the flight deck. The ship’s air operations officer, Cdr. Tom Cawley, and I promptly exchanged the directive. We could hear the A-6 engines starting on the flight deck just above us in a matter of minutes.

Squawk boxes (main communications systems, or MC) were the traditional means of communication between departments on aircraft carriers back then. For obvious reasons, we never reported the issue with our CIC MC box to maintenance. We could hear conversations taking place between the Captain’s bridge and the Admiral’s War Room. Admiral Cagle informed the bridge, “Kent, we are launching alert 5,” prior to the deployment of alert 5.

Captain Kent Lee’s reply was, “Negative.” Just one word. After a long very pregnant pause, the Admiral meekly said, “Well, alright Kent.” This conversation did not surprise me because I was aware of how much respect these two men had for one another. I was unaware that Captain Lee had been observing the situation on a Naval Tactical Data System (NTDS) console in the mini-CIC immediately off the bridge. On the Captain’s console, the contact that our radarman in CIC had precisely tracked at 31 knots appeared to be traveling at 24 knots.

But Lee, being the cunning leader that he was, surmised who the contact was, and it turned out that he was right. It was a Russian Soviet destroyer that had left the region to refuel and was now coming back.

The unknown story of the close call that almost started World War III off the Korean Peninsula in 1969

I was summoned to the Captain’s sea cabin around ten minutes after the alert 5 launch was canceled. When I was seated across from Captain Lee, he looked at me and said, “John, do you realize that you may have started world war three?” I was shaken by this charge by a leader I so much admired but I knew that he would respect the truth and I laid it out for him.

He interrupted me when I was about to say that the NTDS system’s computer monitoring of surface targets was much less precise than the raw radar scope tracking. He said, “That never occurred to me.” The truth is that the staff came dangerously close to starting World War III by ordering the launch of armed aircraft to attack the unidentified contact, and it was Captain Kent Lee’s commitment (he was up very early to monitor the tactical situation) and wisdom that stopped that terrible possibility.

A terrifying command involving a nuclear attack on North Korea was given to the unit while TF-71 was stationed there. An Air Force unit on alert in South Korea informed the CTF-71 Staff to be ready to support a nuclear strike. According to Anthony Summers and Robyn Power’s book “Arrogance of Power: The Secret World of Richard Nixon,” he was drunk when he gave the order. When Nixon awakened the following morning, National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger informed him of the potential strike.

The unknown story of the close call that almost started World War III off the Korean Peninsula in 1969

The Navy depends on outstanding commanders to succeed, according to the events I saw during that time. That night, Captain Kent Lee wasn’t dozing off in his ship’s quarters. When the Admiral’s staff and I were involved in deciding to destroy a Soviet ship, a decision that may have triggered World War III, he was seated at an NTDS console just off the bridge. What may have been a catastrophe that changed the course of history was averted because of Captain Kent Lee’s exceptional leadership and meticulous attention to tactical details.

Photo by PH3 Kris White / U.S. Navy, U.S. Navy, and U.S. Navy via John Newlin

August 28, 2021 0 comment

The story of the X-15, which set the highest speed ever for a manned aircraft

by Till Daisd August 26, 2021

written by Till Daisd

The Hot Peroxide warning light on Knight’s X-15 turned on when he was doing some rudder pulses to collect data with the yaw damper off following the burnout at a speed of Mach 5.5.

A well-known and important figure in aviation history is the X-15. Its goal was to fly quickly and high, testing the aircraft and putting the pilots through challenges that might later face astronauts. In addition to being the first piloted aircraft in the world to reach hypersonic speeds, or more than five times the speed of sound, it made the first manned flights to the farthest reaches of space. In the 1960s, the X-15 was a crucial tool in the development of spaceflight, and X-15 pilots who flew at altitudes greater than 50 miles were awarded astronaut wings.

In total, 199 flights were made by the three X-15 aircraft between 1959 and 1968. It was a collaborative project between the US Air Force, US Navy, and US NASA.

The story of the X-15's official world record for the highest speed ever set by a manned, powered aircraft

The X-15 was launched midair from a B-52 “mothership” at a height of around 45,000 feet, similar to other rocket aircraft. After its potent rocket was detonated, the X-15 soared to the uppermost point of the atmosphere before gliding powerlessly to a dry lake bed.

The average flight time was ten minutes.

William “Pete” Knight, one of the pilots who flew this unique research aircraft, had the most memorable experience of all the X-15 pilots. In fact, he did achieve the maximum Mach number for the X-15 on October 3, 1967, according to John Anderson and Richard Passman in their book X-15 The World’s Fastest Rocket Plane, and the Pilots who Ushered in the Space Age. He accomplished this while flying the X-15A-2, which was covered in a white ablative heat shield and had extended fuel tanks as well as additional external fuel tanks that increased the full thrust time from 90 to 141 seconds.

The story of the X-15's official world record for the highest speed ever set by a manned, powered aircraft

As part of the research program to create a scramjet (a supersonic combustion ramjet engine), a dummy model of NASA’s high-speed research engine (HRE), was attached underneath the aircraft for the sortie.

Knight finally took off at 1:20 PM, after spending almost an hour under the B-52’s wings, and headed for Mud Lake, where he was dropped after two failed launches. Pete remembers reading about the initial launch attempt in X-15: Extending the Frontiers of Flight by William H. Dana and Dennis R. Jenkins. “Reached up and hit the launch switch and immediately took my hand off to [go] back to the throttle and found that I had not gone anywhere. It did not launch.”

Knight made another effort two minutes later, and this one ended with a good release. He then increased his speed and climbed with a high lift at an angle of attack of 12 degrees (the angle between the wing chord and the direction of the free stream airflow) until he reached a climb angle of 32 degrees (the angle between the horizontal and the flight path). At 102,100 feet, he leveled off and accelerated to 6,600 feet per second (Mach 6.7), which is still the top speed for a manned powered aircraft.

However, at a speed of Mach 5.5, Pete was doing some rudder pulses to collect data with the yaw damper off after the burnout when the Hot Peroxide warning light activated.

The X-15’s bottom surface was struck by a shock wave from the engine cowling, which prompted a warning. However, the attachment pylon was actually burned through by the strong aerodynamic heating in the impingement location, which separated the dummy scramjet from the aircraft. Additionally, the vertical tail was also affected by the shock waves, which resulted in some melting and skin rollover that badly damaged the aircraft and compelled Knight to shoot the remaining peroxide into the air to prevent its explosion.

The story of the X-15's official world record for the highest speed ever set by a manned, powered aircraft — X-15 pilots as of December 1965, left to right: Joe Engle, Bob Rushworth, John McKay, Pete Knight, Milt Thompson, and Bill Dana.

The X-15 arrived at the so-called “high key” (actually the plan to reach an altitude of about 35,000 feet at a speed of 290 to 350 miles per hour on the highest approach to the runway at Edwards Air Force Base) at supersonic speed rather than the originally intended subsonic speed because Pete was preoccupied with this unpleasant excitement. Knight attempted to jettison the scramjet from its X-15 to lower the kinetic energy of the aircraft, but it didn’t appear to have any effect. As a result, Pete had to dissipate the extra kinetic energy by flying past the landing site, allowing aerodynamic drag to slow the aircraft, and then landing at the proper speed.

This trip was the X-15A-2’s final flight, and the aircraft is now on exhibit at the Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio’s Air Force Museum.

The story of the X-15's official world record for the highest speed ever set by a manned, powered aircraft

However, what actually transpired with the mock scramjet? Without a doubt, Knight was fortunate to survive its record-breaking trip. If the dummy scramjet had stayed attached to the aircraft any longer, the shock wave would have blasted a hole into the main structure of the fuselage, killing the X-15 in flight. Instead, it was later discovered on the lakebed.

Photo by U.S. Air Force and NASA

August 26, 2021 0 comment

Pilot of SR-71 Blackbird reports about his ground speed check

by Till Daisd August 26, 2021

written by Till Daisd

“Center, Aspen 20, you got a ground speed readout for us?’ There was a longer than normal pause … “Aspen, I show 1,942 knots.” No further inquiries were heard on that frequency.

The Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird Mach 3 strategic reconnaissance aircraft maintained its position as the world’s fastest and highest-flying operational aircraft for approximately 24 years. It could survey 100,000 square miles of the Earth’s surface per hour from an altitude of 80,000 feet.

It is therefore not surprising that the aircraft has consistently broken records for both speed and altitude due to its astounding flight qualities.

Nevertheless, as SR-71 pilot Brian Shul describes in his book Sled Driver, the Blackbird wasn’t a simple aircraft to operate. “There were a lot of things we couldn’t do in an SR-71, but we were the fastest guys on the block and loved reminding our fellow aviators of this fact. People often asked us if, because of this fact, it was fun to fly the jet. Fun would not be the first word I would use to describe flying this plane—intense, maybe, even cerebral.”

However according to Shul “there was one day in our Sled experience when we would have to say that it was pure fun to be the fastest guys out there, at least for a moment. I’ll always remember a certain radio exchange that occurred one day as Walt (my back-seater) and I were screaming across Southern California 13 miles high. We were monitoring various radio transmissions from other aircraft as we entered Los Angeles airspace. Though they didn’t really control us, they did monitor our movement across their scope. I heard a Cessna ask for a readout of its ground speed. ’90 knots’ Center replied. Moments later, a Twin Beech required the same. ‘120 knots,’ Center answered. We weren’t the only ones proud of our ground speed that day…as almost instantly an F-18 smugly transmitted, ‘Ah, Center, Dusty 52 requests ground speed readout.’
There was a slight pause, then the response, ‘620 knots on the ground, Dusty.’ Another silent pause. As I was thinking to myself how ripe a situation this was, I heard a familiar click of a radio transmission coming from my back-seater. It was at that precise moment I realized Walt and I had become a real crew, for we were both thinking in unison.
‘Center, Aspen 20, you got a ground speed readout for us?’ There was a longer than normal pause … ‘Aspen, I show 1,942 knots.’ No further inquiries were heard on that frequency.”

Major Brian Shul narrates the story of this renowned ground speed check in the video that follows, which was shot at the Hiller Aviation Museum at San Carlos Airport in San Carlos, California.

Photo by Brian Shul / U.S. Air Force

August 26, 2021 0 comment

How the Mohawk became a MiG killer

by Till Daisd August 26, 2021

written by Till Daisd

Although it wasn’t intended, the Mohawk actually shot down a MiG during the Vietnam War

During the Vietnam War, the OV-1 was responsible for the U.S. Army’s air-to-air win.

The Grumman OV-1 was a full battlefield surveillance aircraft that could provide almost any information a battlefield commander would need, and could even destroy it if required. It was created to satisfy the U.S. Army’s request for a tiny, two-seat, twin-engine surveillance aircraft.

A MiG was something that the Mohawk wasn’t intended to shoot down, yet it did so during the Vietnam War.

OV-1 Vs MiG-17: the story of how the Mohawk became a MiG killer

Two OV-1As from the 131st Aviation Company were flying at 2000 feet above the Ashau Valley on a morning in mid-February 1968. The Ashau Valley was one of the North Vietnamese Army’s two strongholds in South Vietnam, the other being the U Minh Forest to the north of Saigon. One of the most seasoned Mohawk pilots in the squadron, Capt. Ken Lee piloted the flight. The two pilots maintained their altitude to use the OV-1 side-looking radar and infrared detection equipment to observe the enemy activity in the valley because they were aware that there were more than 6,000 permanent troops and one of the most technologically advanced complexes of anti-aircraft batteries in the world in the jungle below them.

According to Wayne Mutza’s account in U.S. Army Aviation in Vietnam, Lee suddenly felt his aircraft being hit. He turned right away when his wingman cried at him from half a mile away, “You got a MiG behind you!” As Lee leveled his wings, a MiG-17 flew by at 275 speeds to his left, emerging from a dive 200 feet below him and turning around to retaliate on the two Mohawks. Lee realized that engaging the MiG would have been his only opportunity to avoid being shot down. Lee was carrying a load that allowed the OV-1A to carry a 2.75-inch rocket pod and a.50-caliber machine gun under each wing.

OV-1 Vs MiG-17: the story of how the Mohawk became a MiG killer

The MiG pilot made a serious error when he slowed down to launch his attack, and Lee launched 38 rockets in two shots, four of which connected with the MiG. Additionally, Lee fired numerous machine gun shots at the adversary fighter. I fired around 100.50-caliber bullets at him, and I could see the tracers entering the fuselage. His power was stopped when he hit his engine. When Lee opened fire, the MiG was climbing, so they dipped into a cloud bank. Three to five seconds after pulling to the right to emerge from the clouds, Lee spotted the MiG emerging.

The airplane had an overturned nose, a low right wing, and orange flames. The MiG circled one of the Ashau’s surrounding mountains before turning into what Lee knew to be a blind valley, but since he was flying so low, Lee would not have been able to exit the valley without colliding with the hillside and he was unable to observe the MiG crash.

Lee saw numerous bullet holes in the tail and aft fuselage of his aircraft after they arrived back at Phu Bai Airbase, but he and his wingman were told not to discuss Lee’s likely MiG kill with anybody. The Army actually feared that the U.S. Air Force (USAF), who had designated shooting down MiGs as their sole domain, would have forced them to either disarm the Mohawks or possibly hand them over to the USAF.

OV-1 Vs MiG-17: the story of how the Mohawk became a MiG killer

A few weeks later, Lee took a flight from Phu Bai to Ubon, where he met Col. Robin Olds, commander of the 8th TFW. Olds revealed to Lee that he had heard reports of a Mohawk shooting down a MiG and was curious to learn that Lee was the pilot in that particular duel. In May, Lee flew a different mission that made a stop in Ubon. After he landed, Robin Olds and Chappie James asked him to follow them to the Officer’s Club, where they informed him that the MiG he had been describing had in fact been shot down. When Lee asked how they knew, Olds said to him “We know things you guys don’t and will never find out.”

Photo by U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force, J. S. (Steve) Bond, and Atsushi Tsubota via Wikipedia

August 26, 2021 0 comment

How IRIAF F-14 crews learned to shoot down the MiG-25 Mach 3 Fighter Jet

by Till Daisd August 26, 2021

written by Till Daisd

From a distance of more than 100 kilometers, the F-14 Tomcat launched one AIM-54A. (60 miles). The MiG-25 Foxbat was soon closed in on by the missile, which smacked into it and created a massive ball of flames

The then-Imperial Iranian Air Force (IIAF; renamed Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force, IRIAF, after the Islamic Revolution) sought a fighter with better mobility and armament, as well as a highly adaptable area defense interceptor when it bought the F-14 Tomcat. The IIAF desired a whole system with excellent sensors and efficient long-range missiles.

Tomcat Vs Foxbat: the story of how IRIAF F-14 crews learned to shoot down the MiG-25 Mach 3 fighter jet

The F-14 was so effective that her AWG-9 radar could track up to 24 targets at once and direct six AIM-54 Phoenix missiles against them while simultaneously detecting airborne targets at great distances. The AWG-9/AIM-54 combo also made it possible to intercept high-speed airborne threats like the MiG-25 as well as low-flying cruise missiles.

The performance of the Tomcat during the conflict with Iraq proved the Iranian choice beyond a shadow of a doubt.

Tomcat Vs Foxbat: the story of how IRIAF F-14 crews learned to shoot down the MiG-25 Mach 3 fighter jet

According to Tom Cooper and Farzad Bishop’s book Iranian F-14 Tomcat units in Combat, the Iraqi Air Force (IrAF) began employing MiG-25RBs to strike Khark Island oil infrastructure in the fall of 1981. It was incredibly challenging to intercept the Foxbats because they flew at such great speeds and heights. Even the best and most aggressive IRIAF Tomcat aircrew experienced enormous workloads in the cockpit during the ultimate exercise in precision flying and high-speed operations intercepting a MiG-25.

However, IrAF MiG-25RBs began conducting flights deeper into Iran in September 1982, attacking civilian targets. The F-14As stationed at Mehrabad began to conduct 24-hour Combat Air Patrols (CAPs) over Tehran as a result of these missions. The F-14 was initially flying these sorties at 30,000 feet, but as the MiG-25 got closer, it had to climb to 40,000 feet and speed up to Mach 1+. The IRIAF F-14 crews had to alter patrol altitudes, positions, and speeds in order to intercept the Foxbats because they typically flew at speeds of Mach 1.9 to 2.4 and between 60,000 and 70,000 feet.

According to Cooper and Bishop, the precise moment that an IRIAF Tomcat shot down an IrAF MiG-25 for the first time is unknown. The IrAF had lost 98 fighters and 33 pilots to Iranian F-4 and F-14 aircraft, including a MiG-25 and an F-14-launched Phoenix missile, the defector told his Syrian interrogators on May 4, 1982.

Iranian sources claim that the first confirmed IRIAF F-14 kill of an Iraqi Foxbat occurred on September 16, 1982. On that day, a single contact going close to Mach 3 was approaching Khark at 70,000 feet and was detected by ground-controlled intercept (GCI) by two F-14As on a CAP between Bushehr and Khark. The lead RIO began the intercept of what was obviously a MiG-25RB by activating his AWG-9 as the F-14s came into danger.

Tomcat Vs Foxbat: the story of how IRIAF F-14 crews learned to shoot down the MiG-25 Mach 3 fighter jet — The first squadron of Iranian Pilots of F14 tomcats of Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (Iranian Revolution) at Shiraz Air Base.

After a short while, the F-14’s radar found the target. Over 100 kilometers away, one AIM-54A was launched (60 miles). The Foxbat was struck by the missile, which quickly closed the gap between them, creating a massive ball of fire. The Persian Gulf’s shark-infested waters are likely to blame for Iranian helicopters’ failure to locate the pilot after he reportedly ejected over the water.

This triumph demonstrated that the AWG-9/AIM-54 combo was capable of engaging and destroying MiG-25 aircraft traveling at nearly Mach 3.

Tomcat Vs Foxbat: the story of how IRIAF F-14 crews learned to shoot down the MiG-25 Mach 3 fighter jet

The following battle between the Foxbats and Tomcats happened once more close to Khark. According to Cooper and Bishop, Maj. Shahram Rostami was flying an F-14A on a CAP on December 1, 1982, between Khark and Bandar-e-Khomeini, covering a convoy of commercial ships sailing into Bandar Abbas. After spending two hours at the station, Rostami received a GCI alert about a single contact, a MiG-25, flying at 70,000 feet and Mach 2.3 from the north.

The Foxbat was swiftly closing in on the F-14, which was flying at barely Mach 0,4 at 40,000 feet and 113 kilometers (61 miles) above ground. The crew had to act quickly.

Tomcat Vs Foxbat: the story of how IRIAF F-14 crews learned to shoot down the MiG-25 Mach 3 fighter jet

Rostami accelerated while the target was being pursued by his radar intercept officer (RIO). The pilot of the MiG engaged his Electronic Countermeasure (ECM) equipment and decreased the distance to 71 kilometers (38 miles). As the F-14A accelerated to Mach 1.5 and rose to 45,000 feet, Rostami’s RIO was still able to get a positive radar lock-on and fire a single AIM-54A from 64 kilometers (34 miles) away.

In order to avoid approaching the MiG too quickly, Rostami moved his Tomcat slightly to the west once the missile successfully separated. Just inside the radar envelope, he held the target. The hit symbol lighted on the radar screen as the computer-calculated time-to-impact on the weapons panel counters approached zero, and seconds later GCI confirmed that the Foxbat had vanished from their radar scope. Despite a significant IrAF SAR operation, the pilot of the MiG-25RB that crashed into the sea was not recovered.

When two MiG-25PDs breached the airspace above northern Iran on December 4 and attempted to intercept an airliner flying from Turkey as it passed over Tabriz, IrAF Foxbats sought to avenge a few days later. Maj. Toufanian, one of the first Iranian F-14 pilots, was flying an IRIAF F-14A when it was vectored into the region without the knowledge of the Foxbat aircrews. The Phoenix was launched by the Tomcat crew as they saw their intended target try to escape the AIM-54 that had been fired at it.

Tomcat Vs Foxbat: the story of how IRIAF F-14 crews learned to shoot down the MiG-25 Mach 3 fighter jet

Due to mechanical issues, the Phoenix sped past the Foxbat. Maj. Toufanian launched a pursuit after accelerating his Tomcat to Mach 2.2. The IrAF pilot eased down after the initial AIM-54 missed, feeling secure. Instead, by approving his own death certificate, the MiG-25 was destroyed by a second Phoenix.

Photo by Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force official site, Dmitriy Pichugin, and gire_3pich2005 via Wikimedia and U.S. Air Force

August 26, 2021 0 comment

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